Thursday, November 26, 2009

While our turkey is cooking and I'm enjoying a James Bond marathon on SciFi, eggnog and rum in hand, I wanted to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays besides Valentine's Day (yes Valentine's Day) and this year it's even more special since it'll be the last one I'll have to spend in Washington DC! (Insert uproarious applause here.) I suppose it's too early to reflect on 2009 just yet -- that sort of thing comes with New Year's -- but in the spirit of cliche here's what I'm thankful for:

Even through the hard times J and I can still laugh, at ourselves and at each other.

My family, friends, Lola and MoneyPenny.

That I'm healthy and all the people I care about are healthy too. (Well, except for my good friend John, who contracted a gnarly jungle parasite on a recent hike to some hallowed waterfall in Hawaii, but he's on a penicillin regiment now so no worries. He won't become a Discovery Channel statistic after all.)

Lou "The Dentures" Dobbs finally left CNN, and hopefully television for good. Immigrants everywhere (legal or otherwise) breath a collective sigh of relief.

Chipotle.

That J wakes up to make me cappuccinos and breakfast on the weekends.

I won Nanowrimo. (w00t!)

That Facebook finally lets you hide those annoying girls from high school certain peoples' updates so you don't have to hear about how they're pregnant again with their second/third kid, or how cute it is when their baby burps/sleeps/walks/crawls/takes a poo. The sad truth is I never cared about you back then, and therefore could care even less about your baby's current bowel movements.

That my sister graduated college and is back up in the Bay Area -- for good. Also that my bro is considering staying in the area for college. Love them. Us three musketeers together are a force to be reckoned with.

That even though money has been incredibly tight these last few months, and sometimes the idea of it gets me down, most of the time it's an afterthought. I'm writing everyday and for me that's enough. (Although owning a villa in Tuscany and/or a vintage 1963 230SL convertible Mercedes does have its perks...)

The dollar menu at McDonald's. For those few times a month when we treat ourselves out to a night on the town.

I am thankful that I have almost completed my first novel. I'm thankful for my husband and dog and healthy, happy family. And for my blog and all of the awesome blogs that I read! Happy Thanksgiving :)

Happy Thanksgiving! We watched that James Bond marathon too and made fun of all those other dudes who don't compare to Sir Sean Connery.

I'm grateful for new friends like you in my life, not to mention my wonderful new home and life here in Florida. Your time will come and soon you and J will be "home" again. And it will be so friggin' sweet and wonderful. Trust me!

Writer and new-ish mom trying to figure it all out. I married a great guy six years ago in Italy and after many adventures we've finally settled down in our first house. I've been told I'm Norma Desmond meets Bridget Jones. I hope that's a good thing. Email me at brunetteonabudget [at] gmail [dot] com.